Hostile Negotiation

At some point you will have received a call from Mallorie letting you know that Roman never came home from partying one night. It seems suspicious, but knowing how Roman can be, Niko will let her know that he's probably just partying or passed out somewhere or something. But eventually, you'll receive another, much more frantic phone call from her. It appears he's been kidnapped by the Russians. When you subsequently receive a text message from Dimitri with a picture showing Roman at gunpoint, you know for sure he's been kidnapped. You can find him in the borough of Bohan at the far southern end, in an abandoned warehouse off of Lompoc Avenue. Get there posthaste.

Upon arrival, you'll find the warehouse and its surrounding area in shambles. Naturally, you can't just drive up into the place, so ditch your car and walk up towards the goal shown on your HUD. Be absolutely positive to grab the machinegun sitting outside the door before hitting the arrow target -- you'll need it. When you finally do hit the arrow, you'll see a cutscene showing the position of many of the enemies within the building, as well as where Roman is being held on the very top floor. This mission is going to be a challenge. Do you have what it takes?

Select your first target from behind the wall and begin firing. As soon as you begin firing, of course, the dozens of foes in the building will be alerted to your presence, so expect to be fired upon from all angles. It's integral on the first floor that you clear all enemies on the main floor from behind the wall, since it's virtually impenetrable to enemy bullets. There are some explosive barrels in the area you can also use. When things seem to calm down in the middle of the first floor, you can then work your way into the center of the room to draw more fire from enemies on catwalks above. Once you've identified their location, you can seek cover behind a wall or pillar and aim your sights on them. When you stop taking fire from any location, you know it's safe to ascend the metal staircase to the second floor.

The second floor is no friendlier than the first floor, and making matters worse, there's no center to the floor, so enemies are hiding along well-covered areas on the perimeter. Hopefully you were able to thin the enemy ranks here from the floor below, but chances are you're still going to be dealing with a substantial enemy force. It's vital that you grab any dropped weapons from dead foes to constantly replenish your ammunition, because you're going to be going through a lot of ammo here. Otherwise, you'll want to clear the second floor in much the same way as you cleared the first. When the coast is clear, it's time to head up to the third floor.

By now, Niko's already explosive anger in this situation has reached its crescendo. Screaming and promising revenge, you're nearing the location of where Roman is being held. In fact, you may even start hearing screams from him. Keep a keen eye on the catwalks around you, especially on a huge metallic beam where three enemies will covertly fire upon you from. Then, work your way towards the office where Roman is being held when the coast is clear. It's time to save Niko's cousin from the ultimate danger.

Niko finds himself in a bind here, with a Russian thug holding an Uzi to Roman's temple. The game will instruct you to free aim, so follow the on-screen instructions. Then, use free aim to carefully aim at the perpetrator's head, while avoiding Roman at all costs. If timed correctly, the shot will kill the captor, allowing Roman to fall to the floor, exhausted and scared. Niko runs up to him and the cousins embrace, but there's no time to lose. It's time to run down a back exit, down to ground level, where a truck is waiting. Roman will get in the passenger side, and Niko will pilot the vehicle.

You'll hear the cops talking about a shooting at the warehouse, but as long as you get out of the warehouse in time, there should be no police involvement in your journey back to the safe house. However, this safe house won't be very safe for long, and Roman tells Niko that he'll arrange for a new safe house in Algonquin, Liberty City's Manhattan. This was certainly a bonding experience for Niko and Roman, but Roman lets him know his displeasure in the situation. It appears they're both at fault, though, and decide to let bygones ultimately be bygones.